Liam McNally
For Krystle Sheppard, it was her own experiences growing up that inspired her to sign up as a mentor.
She said her life would be an interesting book to read.
“There was a lot of abuse from a relative and his friends, abusive relationships,” Ms Sheppard said.
“I guess I listened to their words and made them my own.
“That I was useless, that I was worthless.”
She said she owed it to her grandma and her uncle and aunt for getting her the help she needed, but thinks having a program like Sparkways available would have been “amazing”.
Ms Sheppard spoke to Star Weekly from Sunshine Hospital, which she has been in and out of for the last couple of years with diabetic gastroparesis.
Despite these troubles, and being a single mother, she still wants to find the time to give back.
“It’s good to have a distraction from just yourself,” she said.
“To me sitting there, I feel like I’m wasting time, and if I can help someone it’s a good distraction and I’m doing something good.
Sparkways is a youth service which began in 1883 and has been running a mentoring program in the western suburbs for 20 years.
The program connects young people who have been involved with child protection with adult mentors.
The pairs catch up every two weeks for 12 months and do activities based around the young person’s interests, aimed at building confidence and setting goals.
Sparkways has seven young people in Melton ready for the program currently but is seeking mentor volunteers to help them.
Sparkways mentoring program team leader Fletcher Curnow said the most rewarding part of the program is watching young people come out of their shell and helping them achieve goals.
“If you’re an empathetic person who wants to make a difference, particularly in the local Melton community, while doing some fun and interesting activities, we would really love some more mentors,” he said.
